Ulrich runs next to Tannan and attacks the space indicated!
Longsword:
Miss chance:
Kekkle continues to stand watch over his exit.
Tannan 19
Araden 16
Kekkle 15
Elyna 9+
Prince 9
Ulrich 8 -> 6
Pahleg 7
Round 10
Tannan attacks the point as indicated by Pahleg.
His dagger cuts an artery, and the enemy's invisible blood turns red on Tannan's blade.
Araden guards the exit.
Kekkle stands watch over the exit.
Elyna tries to blast the space Tannan hit.
... Elyna, Tannan and Pahleg can hear heavy breathing.
Ulrich
Pahleg maintains concentration on his spell, and sees that the faint aura moves 5 feet to the right. He points out that the enemy has moved slightly.
Ulrich runs next to Tannan and attacks the new space. His sword meets resistance, but does not cause damage.
Round 11
Pahleg continues to block the doorway and maintain concentration, shouting out the updated locations of their invisible adversary.
Drawing in heat Elyna unleashes a nother cone of fire.
Araden remains on guard where he is, not wanting to give an escape route to the enemy, although he also wishes to assist his allies.
Tannan 19
Araden 16
Kekkle 15
Elyna 9+
Prince 9
Pahleg 7
Ulrich 6
Round 11
Tannan keeps attacking the point indicated by Pahleg. With little results.
Araden and Kekkle stay on guard on the other side of the room.
Elyna unleashes another cone of fire, which envelops the invisible enemy's space.
... Something bumps into Elyna: apparently the invisible foe tried to get past her.
Pahleg concentrates on the spell, keeping an eye out on the moving aura.
Round 12
Tannan keeps attacking the point indicated by Pahleg. Again, failing to strike a blow.
Elyna unleashes another cone of fire.
... Almost invisible to the naked eye, there is a dim flash in the enemy's location, with a hint of red coloring.
Pahleg concentrates on the aura, but notices it has grown weaker, becoming a dim, lingering aura. The enemy has disappeared, this time for good.
Any amount of searching won't offer any clues. The Prince is gone.
Combat over.
Pahleg frowns. "Teleportation. We may be out of our league here."
Eventually the group relaxes, no longer unnerved by the presence of an invisible enemy, and loots the unconscious knight who is commonly known as Liar.
He had his sword (a magical rapier), his armor, 2 red gems, 1 purple gem, and 2 coins in his possession.
Imperial Rapier
A sturdy and light rapier, forged by the empire's best smiths and enchanted in the Labyrinth by Shadow Lord.Use detect magic spell and Spellcraft skill to determine the effects and qualities of this item. Use Appraise skill to determine the value of this item.
Sir Eliyah had no illness of mind. He performed his duty with grace and honor, because that was his duty. One day his lover, a lady of the night, was sent to a faraway, strange prison. Knowing full well the dangers, he followed behind.
Chain Shirt
A shirt that covers the torso, made up of thousands of interlocked metal rings. A testament of time and dedication, it is.Masterwork chain shirt. Worth 25 souls.
The finest of the lightest armor. Typically armor this light only benefits those who expect little physical harm, and as such is an uncommon choice for a warrior.
Invader Orb
A blood red gemstone that emits malevolent thoughts.Use this to invade other roamers. One-time use. Worth 15 souls.
When using this item, you let the fates guide your own, for good and bad:
You always invade a random roamer, of approximately equal power.Like a plant bearing fruits, the Labyrinth produces these gemstones.
Shadow Crystal
A dark purple gemstone. If you listen closely, you can hear the victims' screams of agony.Token recognizing that the owner has slain an innocent. Offer these to your covenant.
Some cling to hope that they may escape the horrors of the Labyrinth. Fools. Shadows of the Labyrinth have adapted to this hostile environment better than anyone else, and know that there is no escape from the wished prison.
Daedalus Copper
A tiny piece of copper, forged into coin form. Portrait of Daedalus, the mythic patron of architecture, is inscripted on it.Has many uses. These coins can be offered by placing them in the nooks of the labyrinth walls, traded with other roamers using them as currency, or sacrificed by placing one in the mouth of a corpse.
When used as an offering, the coin may change the form of the structure. Keep an eye out for the triangle symbol, delta.
When used as a sacrifice, the corpse's memory may talk. The user can speak with dead, as per the spell, for a number of rounds equal to the number of coins sacrificed, with the corpse. The DC to resist this is 14 + the number of coins sacrificed.While they are known as the explorer's best friends, these coins' origin is anything but clear. The old legend tells that these coins were in use in the world outside. Perhaps the roamers have forgotten, how it feels to hold meaning to a piece of soulless metal.
Intelligence to see if I can RP putting two and two together:
"Damn it! The snake up and vanished.... the Liar will suffice for today at least. Hmph. I should like to bring him back to the Corporal's cell block so he won't return to trouble us again- but I think the Corporal would prefer we push on to the Throne instead of bothering him again."
He picks up the shadow crystal with undisguised contempt.
"So this is what he got out of murdering our comrades."
Kekkle will start collecting the items and swaps his armor for the chain shirt.
"Then we just...leave him?"
Kekkle analyzes the rapier's magical properties, and they seem tricky to identify. Kekkle is unable to determine their function.
Same with the morningstar.
"No, I suppose not. Let's drag him upstairs to a cell, it isn't far."
Assuming no one objects, Ulrich will drag the Liar upstairs to Corporal Matt.
"Corporal. I'm sure you're sick of seeing us by now, but this knave has slaughtered our companions in the past. If you will permit me, I'd like to lock him up with the other ne'er do wells under your charge before we continue forth to the Throne."
"That slippery little- !"
Elyna lets out a last gust of fire against a wall in frustration.
She agrees to bringing the Liar back to Matt's caretaking.
"I can't tell what this rapier does, I suppose we can save it for now. Once Ulrich returns we can continue on, but until then..."
There are a few pieces of paper on the table. Some of them seem to have schedules (presumably for some kind of working shifts) and accounting of some kind. These records are rather haphazard, and exact details of them can be difficult to figure out... Tannan gives them a once-over, , but can't make much more sense out of them either. The party takes the papers with them anyway; no reason to leave them on the enemy's hideout.
The party carries the unconscious Liar back upstairs, through the cell rows and to Matt's care.
Matt seems puzzled at first. "Oh! What happened to him?" After hearing the explanation about Liar's actions, Matt's expression turns grim. "I'm fairly certain this man is part of the Shadows, then. If that's the case, no one would object if we just... ended him."
"Understood, sir. My reasoning in bringing him to you is that death seems... less permanent here than it is in the outside world. Locking him up in a cell may be a more permanent solution."
"Yes some of us have died before and simply returned, though unfortunately not all. How do we know he will not just resurrect somewhere?"
"You're talking about the covenants, aren't you? Yes, I've been warned that some people have recovered from death, by the virtue of the covenant's protection."
The Hell Corporal closes his eyes. "To my knowledge ours offers no such protection. The Shadows, hmm, yes, of course. If he's a member of the Shadows, there's a possibility he could come back. He should be locked away. The key I gave you should work on every cell there," he says nodding towards the cell rows, "so choose whichever cell you want."
You remember Ushio. He had died during the clash against the scorpion, and returned to life. To your knowledge he was not part of any covenant which raises the question: what caused his resurrection?
"Thank you, Corporal."
Ulrich drags the Liar to a cell away from any other prisoners.
"If you would, Ms. Elyna.", he says. Once the door is open, he stuffs the Liar within.
Elyna looks vacant for a fraction of a second: "Right!" she pulls the key from her robe and unlocks the cell for Ulrich, locking it again once the Liar is securely within.
"A rude awakening it will be for our old friend here. We should continue to the Throne- that secret passage should provide a way around the dragon and perhaps we'll settle with the mage and the Prince soon enough."
Ulrich drags the limp body of the Liar to cell number 1, which is three cells away from the lunatic halfling's cell; it also happens to be closest to the Corporal. Elyna opens the cell with her key, and Liar is thrown in.
The party then heads back to the secret passage, and opens the other exit. The sight that greets them raises hair.
They are standing in front of a wide and long hallway. Statues depicting dragons in various poses are around the walls, but that is not the astonishing part of the sight. Rows of countless soldiers are standing in the hallway, each wielding a weapon, all wearing clothing and armor painted red. The soldiers are apparently alive, but not one of them makes a move. Such immovable discipline feels a bit unnatural, even for trained militia.
The hallway leads forward, and on the left is wall of grey fog. There is a block of worked stone in front of one of the statues.
Tannan jumps a bit when he sees the small army in front of him...and then when nobody makes a move he breathes a sigh of relief. He tries to get a sense of what is going on, are they human he wonders. He stands up close to one to make sure it is still breathing, he doesn't touch one though as not to anger anyone.
When he looks at the block of worked stone, he checks it over for traps.
He turns to the other members of his group, and whispers,
So, the wall of fog means there is some big bad thing is hiding, right? Any clue who or what it could be? Maybe its the now crazed captain guy the Corporal was worried about? Could he/it be the one controlling these armed guys...through fear?
Kekkle shrugs "The only way of knowing would be to go in."
"Yes. This bodes unwell for the Captain, and for the fate of the Covenant." Araden turns to Ulrich. "We are certain this is the Throne we sought? These are your brothers in arms?"
Ulrich surveys the line of men.
"I.... have no idea. What is this block of stone?", Ulrich walks to the worked stone block and looks it over.
Tannan walks up close to the nearest soldier, and sees that he is alive. Alive, but not all the way present. The others, and surely Tannan as well, have seen these kind of people before: they were called the Hungry, or the Hollow.
He gives a look at the stone block. It seems completely innocuous. It measures about 10 feet wide, 4 feet tall and 5 feet deep. A solid block of stone. If one were to guess its purpose, a table or desk would be a good estimate.
The soldiers are all wearing armor and clothing colored red. Many of them have red-and-black and red-and-white tabards over chain armor, some have breastplates in crimson color, and a few have heavier armor with some red padded armor below it. The shields, of those who carry them, have images depicting horned devils, flames, and dragons.
The color scheme and style matches with that of Matt's and the Hellfire outpost guard's.
"This mustn't be the Throne, it's so close to the outpost... This must be part of the Dragon Cathedral."
"We have choices- if you remember the hole in the wall above, showing the kneeling figure, I believe that it should be beyond that wall of fog. Are we prepared to face the challenges within? Or should we continue down this hallway... or risk the dragon? If Hellfire holds sway here, perhaps it won't attack...? No, I am a fool for allowing myself to hope for that."
"I'd certainly like to take a second stab at the fog."
"Second stab? You went through this one?"
Kekkle shrugs "Maybe? When I went through using the orb there were soldiers there too. Not like these, their armor was white and the whole area was cold. Still, I've begun to notice that these fog walls block the most direct paths to other places in the Labyrinth. If we're looking for the heart of Hellfire, we'll no doubt need to go through at one point or another."
"Friend Kekkle, what do you remember of your combat beyond the fog wall?"
"Three knights. Two armed with bows and the third with shield and hand weapon. The archers where on an elevated platform, making them difficult to reach. I was able to kill one before the second felled me."
"Perhaps we should rest; I could prepare ranged spells to deal with these archers."
"How high up were they? My fire does not reach very far but I may be able to hit them."
"If we wish to rest, I would like to at least continue down this hall past the soldiers- unless we are completely depleted. The Prince and that red-clad mage is still out there, so we should stay on our toes."
"I agree Ulrich, let's clear out the weak adversaries and then rest before coming back through the fog wall!" Unless anybody objects, Pahleg leads them onward (from the back of course).
"Agreed. I think it best to continue onward and explore this accursed place before we rest." Araden hefts his axe and follows Ulrich (from in front of him).
Wanting to explore the rest of the area first, the group slowly heads to the hallway, and starts walking past the rows of soldiers. The hollowed soldiers remain in their state of extreme attention, not relaxing a muscle.
In the end, the group walks past them without any difficulties.
At the end of the hallway is a door that leads to very tiny room, one that has barely enough room for six people. The room doesn't seem to lead anywhere, but there seems to be some kind of rope hanging from its ceiling. There is a lever on the wall outside the room.
Words, written in chalk, are scribbled in the left wall: "THRONE → UP", the arrow pointing towards the room and the rope.
Lacking other ideas, Ulrich throws the switch and stands clear.
Ulrich finds the lever to be stuck, and can't pull it with any force he'd deem reasonable if he doesn't want to break something. Pulling the rope, on the other hand, could achieve something...
"Seems to be jammed...", he remarks before pulling on the rope.
"Hail up there!", he calls, pulling the rope,"I am a Hellfire private, carrying a message from Corporal Matt!"
Ulrich enters the room and yanks the rope while shouting. He can hear sort of mechanism above the room activating, and the floor beneath his feet begins to ascend. The party that stayed outside watches in surprise and mild panic as the room starts elevating towards the higher floors. It has now been proven that the tiny room is some kind of a lift.
GM MG:
Perception:
Since the coast is clear, he calls down to the others, "It's clear!" before sending the lift back and taking a closer look at the relief.
If/when the lift returns Kekkle will step on and repeat the process with the rest of the group.
Ulrich calls from above: "It's clear!", before sending the lift back down (if he can figure it out).